Crime and Punishment

The Law

Let's start with the cops (which is the first thing you're gonna need to know in the City). First of all, most are now called Lawmen, since their ambit covers a lot more than the old school City Beat. The Lawmen of the Time of the Red are organized much as they were during the 20th century with Homicide, Vice, Burglary, and Traffic Squads; about 5 men each. The most recent addition to police organization has been the addition of the Cyberpsycho Squad (also known as the Psycho Squad), whose main job is to deal with cybernetic criminals. While the average beat cop hits The Street in an armored squad car, wearing an armor jacket, helmet, and carrying a smart-chipped Minami-10 sidearm, the Psycho Squad detail employs aerogyros, AV-4s, miniguns, assault weapons, and Stinger missile launchers.
City cops can patrol all areas of the city. Corporate Cops are deputized to patrol only corporate facilities. However, in areas where a large number of office areas are huddled together, this effectively can turn an entire downtown region into Corporate Cop territory. Corporate Cops are usually better armed and armored, and often have full Trauma Team medical coverage. They are also more vicious, sadistic, and likely to shoot first—after all, they know the Corporation can cover up any incidents. There are also Lawmen on the open highways as well. Since a lot of new Reclaimed Cities don't have police forces set up yet, these wandering marshals are much like the range-riding Wyatt Earps of the Old West—hard riding, fast shooting—part of why they are colloquially all lumped under the Old Western/ Roaring '20s tag of "Lawmen."


The Legalities
Skyrocketing crime rates in the 1990s proved the existing legal structure was falling apart. Following the Purge of 1996 (when citizens' groups lynched hundreds of criminal defense lawyers), the government declared martial law throughout the United States for a period of three years. During this time, justice was dispensed by local military courts.


Justice, Army Style
During the martial law period that began in the late 1990s, the U.S. government looked to military regulations to replace the laws that had previously governed the nation. As a result, the Military Justice Code became the main rule of U.S. law.
The Code's draconian standards of crime and punishment served so well, in the eyes of those in power, that when martial law was suspended the government established a Uniform Civilian Justice Code in its place. Some loosening of restrictions was seen in the early 2020s but, in the aftermath of the 4th Corp War, the Uniform Civilian Justice Code is once again the law of the land.
Even Night City, which isn't part of the New United States, still bases what laws it actually has on the Uniform Civilian Justice Code. Of course, how much the laws get enforced depends entirely on what part of the City you're in and what your annual income is. Funny how, no matter how harsh the laws get, the rich still manage to get away with murder. Sometimes literally.

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Crime

Theft, Fraud, and Stealing
If theft is defined as taking something that isn't yours, there's a lot of thieving going on in Night City. Too much to account for, in fact. Stealing gets you food when you're starving, weapons when you're under attack, safe places when you're living in a dumpster, and money to pay other people to cover you when you're not powerful enough to do it for yourself. If the Lawmen really buckled down and tried to bust every person in Night City who stole something, they'd be at it 24-7. And there just aren't enough Lawmen out there for that.
No, in general, The Street deals with theft in its own way. If you get caught, the only question becomes how bad can the victim mess you up. Sometimes you just get a beating. Sometimes you get hunted down like a dog and flat out killed (assuming the victim doesn't fit in a bit of torture just for laughs before they kill you). If you steal from a Corp, chances are you'll just end up back on The Street with your frontal lobes burned out or parted out into the local body bank. These things have a way of working out long before any Lawman comes on the scene.
Fraud? Between the bunko rackets and scams, the confidence schemes and creative bookkeeping, fraud is a way of life on The Street. But remember that if your Corp finds out their new Exec is cooking the books or stealing under the table, you're going to only wish you were dead. The Corps are actually pretty legal about these things; they'll hand what's left of you to the authorities ... eventually.
Assuming you get lucky and stand trial for what The Street considers to be a non-issue, you'll be lucky to get off with a little electroflogging, long term exile, or a year or two of braindance. Just sayin'...

▶ Drugs ◀
Theoretically, narcotics may not be possessed within the premises of the United States. However, bio-engineered plant diseases developed through the 1990s by the Drug Enforcement Agency wiped out 96% of the coca and opium plants in existence, making the point moot. The law also does not cover "designer drugs" such as endorphins, which are defined as medicinal. Besides, you're in Night City. It's not part of the United States anymore, choomba. Smoke 'em if ya got em.

▶ Rape and Assault ◀
In the Time of the Red, there's not much difference between rape and other physical assaults—at least as far as The Street sees it. If you can't take vengeance on your attacker yourself, there are plenty of Solos or other guns for hire who will gladly find you some Street justice. Most of the time, there's no trial other than what you and your allies can put together, although the Laws will usually take a hand if you ask them; they figure some scav who harms others is probably going to move up to even more heinous crimes sooner or later, so they might as well slam their ass into a cell on the way to a legally sanctioned punishment now.
On the other hand, don't even think about assaulting or raping a Nomad. They usually just drag you behind the nearest vehicle until you're hamburger. You don't even want to guess where they tie the rope.

▶ Murder vs. Self-Defense ◀
Self-defense is defined as "any instance in which the assailant can show just cause that his or her life, or the life of another party, was threatened in circumstances where a duly-appointed officer of the law could not be summoned, or where it was impossible to restrain the injured party by any other means." There is a lot of murder on The Street. Sometimes the Lawmen get involved. Sometimes you can get someone to investigate someone else's murder. But in general, if you have a weapon and they had a weapon, The Street considers it self-defense and whoever died probably deserved it.

Punishment

Nailed for a Crime? The punishment for criminal actions under the Uniform Justice Code of 1999 are swift, certain, and draconian. Plea bargaining (pleading guilty to a lesser charge to speed up a trial) has been eliminated. Probation is almost unheard of. The death penalty is standard for murder cases—there is a 3-month appeal process during which new evidence can be produced. Most felonies have mandatory prison terms of five to ten years. Lesser crimes are covered by a number of unpleasant forms of punishment that make prison sound pretty good.

▶ Personality Adjustment ◀
The simplest punishment is personality adjustment—a process which implants an aversion to committing the crime ever again. Adjustment has some nasty side effects, including exaggerated fears of situations and events related to the crime (such as a terror of money based on an anti-robbery adjustment).

▶ Electroflogging ◀
Unless you're into serious S&M action, you're not going to enjoy this one. Being tied to a large X-shaped cross while the State Executioner (or the local equivalent) tears your back apart with an electrified metal whip is probably something you're not going to enjoy. Ten lashes are usually enough to kill most people. But for minor crimes, you'll probably get off with only three.

▶ Exile ◀
Exile implants are keyed to a transmission signal broadcast through the city phone NET. If the offender enters the city, the implant causes excruciating pain. The offender is effectively exiled from ever entering that specific city again. Repeat offenses in other cities simply cause additional city codes to be added to the implant. After enough crimes in enough cities, the offender will be unable to enter civilization again.

▶ Prison Blues ◀
Prisons of the 2000s are horrendously overcrowded and deadly. After the riots of the '90s, prison authorities couldn't care less about rehabilitation—they're mostly interested in penning up society's "mad dogs" and keeping the streets clear. Most prisoners are relegated to Low Security Blocks. Low Security Blocks are containment facilities for petty criminals and those convicted of moderate offenses. Prisoners often share cells with one or more other prisoners.
In many ways, Low Security facilities are very similar to prisons of the late 20th century. They're staffed by prison guards, either private or Corporate, who will not hesitate to shoot criminals who become a nuisance. Most prisoners are short-term; longterm prisoners can become Trustees and may even be deputized and allowed access to non-lethal weapons if their psych reports permit this. Low Security inmates are often required to work diligently at menial tasks. This can be likened to the chain gangs of long ago, where prisoners were worked so hard that they didn't have the energy to cause trouble. Some Low Security facilities maintain dormitories instead of cells. Then there's Top Security. Top Security provides containment facilities for the baddest offenders. Most are locked down almost all of the time. Interpersonal interactions between inmates is forbidden. You do time in Top and you're on your own—for the duration. Automated sentries guard perps around the clock and no infringement of security is allowed—under penalty of death. lnmates come into contact with guards and other authorized personnel only when undergoing treatment of some kind.

▶ Braindance ◀
To cope with overcrowding, many prisons force inmates into "braindance"—they are placed in cryotanks, wired to interface loop programs, and "shut down" for periods of two or three years. Continuous braindance creates a nightmare of unending, bland horror, making it the thing cons fear most. Although Braindance therapy is often a common component of a criminal's sentence, most will do anything to avoid it. Although the body is cooled and no physical exertion is possible, the perp's mind is fully active for the duration of the session. All they can really "see" is the endless blackness of total sensory deprivation. Fifteen years or more of this will cause even the most hardened perp to beg for a different sentence. But guards are on hand to deal with any difficulties that may arise from this.
Braindance is also seen as an excellent way of getting difficult prisoners out of the way in lieu of executions (which are not always good for public relations).

▶ Bang—You've Got Justice ◀
The simplest method of punishment is still execution. Most states have a State Executioner who administers justice with one well-placed .44 slug at point-blank range. They are also empowered to hunt down escapees from Death Row.